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Prince Hans
Prince Hans of the Southern Isles is the main antagonist of Disney's 2013 animated feature film, Frozen. He is the youngest of thirteen sons, burdened with the inability to ascend his family's throne in the Southern Isles. Desperate for power and recognition, Hans developed a coup to kill the Snow Queen and marry her heir, Princess Anna, so that he could instead rule the city of Arendelle, as king. Background Hans Westergaard is the thirteenth prince from the Kingdom of the Southern Isles (a neighboring kingdom of Arendelle) and the youngest of the thirteen children born from the King and Queen of the desolate kingdom. Much of Hans' past was explored in the novel A Frozen Heart; throughout his early years, Hans received a concerning amount of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his brothers, who treated him with minimal care due to being the youngest child of the clan. One brother, Lars, treated Hans with considerable difference and was apparently the only sibling in whom the thirteenth prince felt comfortable enough to trust and confide. Hans' father, the commanding King of the Southern Isles, believed that the strong should pick on the weak, so in his eyes, his eldest sons bullying Hans was a show of strength. So while he admired his elder sons (especially the oldest) he thought little of Hans and viewed his youngest son with disgust and distrust. He was widely neglectful of Hans, going so much as to unabashedly acknowledge his lack of interest in his son's presence during family and diplomatic gatherings. Hans' mother, the Queen, was much more loving towards her son and would act as his only true motivation towards concealing his discomfort during family gatherings. Nevertheless, Hans grew to despise his family, specifically the majority of his brothers. He was still hopeful, however, of someday earning his father's respect; not only for the sake of being loved by his parent but to also be the appointed heir to the Southern Isles' throne. With such fantasies seeming impossible, especially due to being the thirteenth in line for the crown, Hans (with some influence by Lars) concocted a scheme to marry into monarchy elsewhere. Should such an ambition succeed, he could escape his abusive family and finally prove himself as someone worthy of being a king. After receiving word that Princess Elsa was scheduled to be crowned queen, and with no betrothed suitors, Hans sets his sights on the neighboring kingdom of Arendelle. With Elsa turning out to be an antisocial recluse, however, Hans instead targeted her lonely, less mature younger sister, Princess Anna. After his marriage to Anna, as the plan would go, Hans would kill Elsa and be crowned king thereafter. Personality Hans is a proud and extremely ambitious prince with a hunger for admiration and chivalrous honor. Despite his desirable appearance and seemingly opulent background, Hans is a victim of severe abuse at the hands of his brothers. This troubled upbringing developed Hans into a remorseless man, bent on bettering his life by acquiring power and the respect that comes along with it. Hans is a physical representation of a silent killer. With a noble demeanor, he presents himself as someone others can trust and confide—a best friend, a significant other, or a reputable authority figure. By establishing himself as someone of virtue, Hans is able to observe his opponents and examine their deepest insecurities, which he would later use against them as a means of advancing his goals. These false impressions won over Anna, and the entirety of Arendelle, thus allowing Hans to seize the throne without giving any premonition of regicide. Hans has several motivating factors to his schemes. Firstly, he has a selfish sense of entitlement, remorselessly believing it is his right to be king even if it means usurping someone else's throne. Secondly, he genuinely craves respect and recognition, having been denied both as a child. Lastly, Hans is power-hungry as he covets kingship and gets a twisted sense of pleasure from having someone's submission—as was the case with a vulnerable and deathly ill Anna. Hans' most powerful asset is quite possibly his vast intelligence and incredible ability to lie, dissemble, and manipulate. He is proven to be quick-thinking, resourceful, and extremely diligent. However, unlike many Disney villains, Hans constantly has to change his plot accordingly with the shifting events that take place in the film without letting loose his villainous nature. This is indeed an interesting challenge for a Disney villain to tackle, thus adding to his level of intelligence, as he comes dangerously close to achieving his goal in spite of unstable circumstances. Cold and cruel, Hans has a sympathetic origin, but lacks any characteristics one could call redeeming. Instead, he apathetically views others as mere stepping stones to his grand plans, and will callously lie, cheat, and kill his way into a position of sole power, regardless of the casualties made along the way. Trivia * When put together, Hans, Kristoff, Anna, and Sven sound like Hans Christian Andersen.5 * Given his last name, it's quite possible that Prince Hans may have been based on Jérôme Bonaparte – the 19th century German king of Westphalia, and youngest brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. * Elements of Hans' character are based on the Evil Mirror from the original Snow Queen. In the original fairy tale, it is said that those who looked into this mirror, the darkest aspects of their personality would come to the surface, and that if a glass shard of this mirror got into one's body, their heart would freeze as a result of their cold nature. The mirror in the story was pivotal for it had caused one of the protagonists, Kai, to become cold towards his friend Gerda (the inspiration for Anna). ** In an interview with Jennifer Lee, Lee confirms that Hans was partially based upon the concept of the Evil Mirror in the original story, as the fairy tale had a lot to do with mirrors. So, as she explains, what Hans is a mirror which appears charming to the person, but is "hollow or sociopathic" in pretense.2 * Hans' last name is "Westergaard", according to a tweet from Jennifer Lee and A Frozen Heart.67 In a deleted scene (featuring "Bad Elsa"), a character named "Admiral Westergård" was mentioned, possibly being the earlier drafting of Hans. ** The description of the admiral in the scene closely matches that of Hans', (Elsa mentions that he "loves her Anna so."). According to Lee, the changing of the character's last name never occurred when the character was ultimately rewritten into Hans. * The name Hans is popularly used in such countries as Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. * Hans' voice actor Santino Fontana originally auditioned for the role of Kristoff, but after the story changed, he auditioned for Hans. * Hans has his own distinct theme that plays when he woos Anna, and it's especially noticeable when he pulls in for the kiss. After the betrayal, his theme can still be heard, albeit with a darker tone. * All of Hans' voice recordings were completed in a matter of five days.8 * According to one of the coloring books, Hans is a naval officer. * In Disney on Ice, Hans claims his brothers had him convinced he was a troll they had adopted. * Hans is essentially a dark reflection of Anna. Both were shut out by their siblings and felt alone in the world as a result. However, while Anna remained loving and optimistic, Hans became bitter and cold. * Hans is a rather unique Disney villain. Usually, when a villain is introduced into a film, the audience instantly realizes this character is not to be trusted, even if some protagonists trust them (i.e. Simba, because Scar is his uncle). They may be either physically sinister, or the movie may give scenes displaying their true intentions. But with Hans, while the audience may get the feeling that he will add romantic tension, like Anna, they do not anticipate his total betrayal later in the film. * There are several subtle hints that foreshadow Hans' villainy throughout the film before his reveal. ** Hans' duet with Anna, "Love is an Open Door", holds a few dark meanings on Hans' side of the song. The lines "I've been searching my whole life to find my own place" and "Love is an open door" secretly represent Hans' quest to dominate a kingdom, and doing so through false romance with Anna, who is his door to power. ** When Anna decides to leave to find Elsa, Hans protests that he doesn't want her to get hurt, because he hadn't married into the throne yet. However, when she puts him in charge, his objections vanish and he seems to perk up. ** While Elsa sees Arendelle frozen from her prison cell, Hans sees his reflection, hinting his self-serving nature. * According to Jennifer Lee, Hans is around 23 years old.9 * In a cut draft of the film, after Hans' sword was destroyed by Anna's frozen body, he was going to catch a second wind and try to attack again, only for Kristoff to knock him out. This was cut because it distracted from the drama of the scene itself. The fight still happens in some storybooks, though. * Hans' character is a major subversion of the classical Disney Prince; Hans himself notes of this during his betrayal, and uses it to his advantage. * Hans has more on-screen time dressed in his coronation suit than he does in his normal formal wear. * When Anna first meets Hans, she trips on a wooden bucket and crashes into him, sending the bucket flying and landing on her head. The last thing we see of Hans is him being tossed into a cage. When the cage door is slammed shut, a wooden bucket falls and lands on his head. * Ironically, in a trailer for Frozen, he was referred to as "the nice guy," to keep his true nature hidden from viewers. * A chess set is seen in the background when Hans is explaining his scheme to Anna and extinguishing the heat sources in the room, symbolizing his exploitation of her as a "pawn" in his plans. * Originally, as seen in a Frozen coloring book, Hans and Elsa were intended to battle at some point. * Hans' character model was used to help determine the height differences between humans and animals during visual development for Zootopia.10 ** In the film itself, a pastry shop named after Hans can be seen in Little Rodentia. 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